In Diane Perez’s letter of October 2 (”Kavanaugh doesn’t deserve harsh treatment”) she tries to defend Brett Kavanaugh by making false claims and attacking the victim, Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. Ms. Perez claims the house where the attack occurred was dark. Nobody said the house was dark. There was a party at the house and the lights were on. Dr. Ford stated Brett Kavanaugh turned up the music in the room where he and Mark Judge were sexually assaulting her so that nobody would hear her screams. She did not say he turned off the lights. Dr. Ford could clearly see the face of her attacker, who was on top of her, and it was Brett Kavanaugh, whom she knew from her social circle.

Dr. Ford was very careful in her allegations to stick to what she knew to be true. Kavanaugh put his hand over her mouth to cover her screams, and she was afraid he would “accidentally” kill her because she was having trouble breathing. She did not claim that he was purposely trying to kill her.

Ms. Perez claimed that according to Judge Kavanaugh’s calendars, he wasn’t even in the same zip code as she was that evening. To the contrary, Kavanaugh’s calendar shows him at a party at a friend’s house in the neighborhood on July 1, and the boys he listed at the party were boys Dr. Ford alleged were at the party where she was attacked. Ms. Perez makes the insulting assertion that maybe Dr. Ford’s voice was quivering at the hearing because she had a guilty conscience about ruining Judge Kavanaugh’s life. That is ridiculous. Dr. Ford was recounting an extremely traumatic event detailing Brett Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assault of her 36 years ago, and her voice quivered because this has traumatized her for 36 years.

Dr. Ford wanted to remain anonymous, and Senator Dianne Feinstein was respecting her wishes in not reporting Dr. Ford’s account. Republicans are complaining about the process, and are trying to paint this as some conspiracy by Democrats in order to muddy the allegations multiple women have made about Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulting them.

But what is important here are the allegations of sexual assault and the credibility of the people involved. Only 2-10% of sexual assault claims are false, only about 35% of sexual assault victims ever report the crime, and it is common for sexual assault victims to remember in vivid detail the assault, but not the surrounding details.

Dr. Ford told her husband and therapist about the sexual assault, including Brett Kavanaugh as the perpetrator, six years ago. She passed a polygraph test and begged for an FBI investigation. She is an independent, accomplished woman who is not a Democratic operative or pawn. She came forward, despite how this has torn her life and the lives of her family apart, as a matter of civic duty. Brett Kavanaugh demonstrably lied in his testimony about the extent and frequency of his drinking in high school and college, about the meaning of derogatory terms in his yearbook, and about the meaning of “Renate alumnius” in his yearbook. He lied in his 2006 Senate confirmation hearing about his knowledge of receiving emails stolen from the Democrats. He yelled, pounded the table, engaged in partisan conspiracy theories, threatened revenge, and insulted senators questioning him at the hearing.

Unfortunately, the FBI investigation is a sham due to the limitations the White House has imposed on them. President Trump can still nominate many other qualified, conservative candidates for the Supreme Court. Brett Kavanaugh is not entitled to be a Supreme Court justice. He has not demonstrated the temperament, nonpartisanship, or honesty to deserve the position.

Ellen Lepowsky, Kendall Park

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